READ THE CITIZENS' VOICE

Digital Only Subscription
Read the digital e-Edition of The Citizens' Voice on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at citizensvoice.com or on our mobile apps.

Digital Services
Have news alerts sent to your mobile device or email, read the e-Edition, sign up for daily newsletters, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

Contact Us
See department contacts, frequently asked questions, request customer service support, submit a photo or place an ad.

Article Tools

Appalling child sexual abuse by Pennsylvania priests abetted by the hierarchy, as detailed in a sweeping grand jury report that state Attorney General Josh Shapiro released Tuesday, is a snapshot of the global failure of the Catholic Church to root out and rid itself of generations of pedophiles masquerading as men of God.

The report details some old cases but it is far from old news precisely because bishops of the Scranton, Allentown, Harrisburg, Erie, Greensburg and Pittsburgh dioceses strived mightily to keep secret known sex crimes by priests.

That commitment is well-summarized by the conduct of former Scranton Bishop James C. Timlin. As detailed by the grand jury, Timlin in 1986 sent a letter involving a case in which the Rev. Thomas D. Skotek impregnated a girl and helped her obtain an abortion. Timlin wrote, in part: “This is a very difficult time in your life, and I realize how upset you are. I too share your grief. ...With the help of God, who never abandons us and is always near when we need him, this too will pass away, and all will be able to go on living. Please be assured that I am most willing to do whatever I can to help.”

Timlin sent the letter not to the girl but to Skotek, whom he reassigned to a church in Wilkes-Barre.

In 1989, Timlin revealed the church’s true concern in a letter about the case to Cardinal Luigi Dadaglio at the Vatican: ... “Although I cannot absolutely give assurance that this priest’s criminal action will never become public, I do not foresee that such would likely be the case. This priest is currently residing in a parish quite far from the town where the crime was committed. He is awaiting a response to his request for a dispensation.”

Timlin and the Scranton diocese were not alone. The report details scores of crimes by scores of priests across decades. And this report follows previous grand jury investigations of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

Recommended deterrence

Due to statutes of limitations, suspects’ deaths and other factors, prosecutors have brought charges against only a few of the 301 priests named in the report. But as they sometimes do in major investigations, the grand jury recommended changes to state law to better guard against such abuses in the future:

• Create a new two-year window for victims to sue in cases where they are precluded from doing so by previous litigation deadlines.

• Change reporting requirements from “while the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe the child is actively being subjected to child abuse,” to “while the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe the abuser is likely to commit additional acts of child abuse.”

• Preclude any non-disclosure agreement for a civil settlement that could be construed as forbidding a victim to notify police.

Challenge to church

Such changes are fine only as far as they go; the problem remains a secrecy culture that extends from the diocese to the Vatican itself.

In France, a recent media investigation detailed the stories of 339 people who suffered sex crimes, allegedly by 32 priests, and alleged cover-ups by 25 bishops.

In Chile, police have conducted a series of raids on diocesan office and prosecutors have accused several bishops of cover-ups.

Several church leaders in Australia face criminal trials for the same reasons.

Pope Francis recently accepted the resignation from the College of Cardinals of former Washington, D.C. Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who is accused of sexual misconduct with minors and seminarians.

The pope widely has been regarded as a reformer but has not fully achieved that title regarding the sexual abuse crisis. He announced a special tribunal to handle cases of bishops accused of mishandling abuse cases, but was unable to actually implement it.

That inertia has to change if the church is ever to get past this crisis so that it truly can be regarded as historical rather than ongoing.

As Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the Pontifical Commission on the Protection of Minors recently put it, the church could lose what remains of its “already weakened moral authority” if it does not change.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.